Cuban backs announcer after fine over ref comments

DALLAS (AP) -- Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is backing his public address announcer after the team had to pay a $25,000 fine because the announcer criticized referee Danny Crawford on Twitter after a recent game.

Cuban said Saturday he would be ''hypocritical'' if he disciplined announcer Sean Heath when his job is to get the crowd riled up the same way Cuban does at times during games. Cuban has been fined more than $1.5 million by the NBA for criticizing refs.

Heath criticized Crawford for not calling goaltending on a shot by Monta Ellis with the score tied late in a loss to Golden State this month. Stephen Curry hit the winning shot at the other end.